Bird, Lime to exit Raleigh due to stringent rules for scooter-sharing

• Raleigh city has imposed some of the most arduous regulations in the country on e-scooter sharing
   
• Other rivals seem to have still submitted proposals to the city for entering the market

Reports confirm that Bird and Lime, two e-scooter companies, have reportedly announced their decision for leaving the city because of the increased fees imposed by the Raleigh City Council as well as stringent government regulations.

Todd O’Boyle, Lime spokesperson, mentioned in a statement to that the Raleigh city has imposed some of the most arduous regulations in the country and unfortunately the company cannot continue to operate under such harsh rules.

Raleigh city has supposedly confirmed that both these companies had not submitted proposals by the 26 March deadline. However other companies including rivals Lyft, Spin, VeoRide, Bolt, and Gotcha did submit their proposals.

Sources familiar with the matter stated that Bird and Lime have rolled out continuously across the country to several cities with varied success, which has included some local governments applauding the companies while some others passing severe regulations.

Sam Reed, a Bird spokesperson quoted in a statement that the people of Raleigh supported the company’s shared e-scooters and the environment friendly option to relish the city. Even after the high fees of the city council forced the company to raise the fares, the company officials were encouraged by the residents’ loyalty who want to see Raleigh as an innovative leader on economic development, climate policy, and transportation.

However, the officials of Raleigh city had declined to amend their onerous regulations on e-scooter providers, and due to this the companies do not want to carry on their services under the restrictive leadership of the city.

According to the sources, the electric scooter companies launched their first vehicle in Raleigh city in 2018 summer and after few months, city council had created fees and regulations particularly for rentable electric scooters. Owing to this it made harder for the company to deliver accessible, cost-effective transportation to all people of Raleigh.